King Group

A project using molecules from spider venom to develop improved treatments for chronic pain and stroke will be undertaken by Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) Professor Glenn King in partnership with University of Science and Technology of China, after receiving funding from the Queensland Government.

Professor Glenn King and partners have discovered a peptide in the venom of funnel-web spiders that could drastically reduce brain damage following stroke.

A peptide from the venom of the spider Heteroscoda maculata can restore the neural deficiencies that trigger seizures associated with Dravet syndrome, a devastating form of childhood epilepsy.

The University of Queensland is the top-ranked institution in Australia in this year’s Nature Index of high-quality research outputs.

Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder in children and it takes the form of recurring seizures. But epilepsy is not a single disease; rather, it is a diverse spectrum of disorders that comprise many types of seizures.

Spider webs are made from silk. And silk is made from something scientists call “proteins”. Proteins are special chemicals made by a living thing - like an animal or a plant. You have lots of them in your body. Proteins usually have a certain job to do.

Venom researchers from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) have discovered the venom of the assassin bug is like no other venomous animal previously studied.